Thursday, October 22, 2009

It may be fall, but for me this is the beginning of another growing season, with both greenhouses planted and coming along nicely.So now available are many different greens, particularly arugula, mustard greens, chards with more winter specialty greens not far behind. I am still selling individual baskets of veggies ,including these items and can also add beautiful brown eggs from my girls for $4 a dozen (they are happy chickens). Additionally for restaurants I can custom grow microgreens , which I cut as well. Most chefs I deal with find this more cost effective than trays of uncut microgreens and they tend to have a 2 week shelf life when refrigerated. Lead time of 1 1/2 weeks minimum is needed on this, but they are available year round.Give a call!

1. Preheat oven to 350*2. Mix together all crust ingredients, press into 9inch pie tin. Set aside.3. In bowl, toss together filling ingredients then place in crust.4. In separate bowl, mix together flour and sugar for your topping. "Cut" in butter (to make a crumble like crust).5. Bake for 45mins-1hour, or until pie is golden brown.

6. Eat and enjoy the best apple pie recipe!

The above recipe is from the Idea Queen website, and it is simple and good, although not low calorie I am sure. I made it yesterday with spy apples that I bought around the corner here in Wellandport at Robbins red hut. YUM. The no-roll pastry recipe was a cinch and it really didn't take long to put together at all>

Friday, October 16, 2009

Today is World Food Day and I found these numbers interesting to consider as I read them in my Kitchen Gardeners Newsletter,written in honour of this day. Hope you find them interesting too.

1: number of new kitchen gardens planted at the White House this year 1943: the last time food was grown at the White House White House 20 million: the number of new gardens planted in 1943 LA Times 40%: percentage of nation's produce coming from gardens in 1943 LA Times 7 million: estimated number of new food gardens planted in the US in 2009 $2000: amount of savings possible per year from a 40' x 40' garden 90%: percentage of fruit/vegetable varieties lost in the US the last 100 years 3500: number of vegetable varieties owned by Monsanto Monsanto 18,467: number of new small farms counted in the last agricultural census USDA 4,685: number of farmers markets nationwide USDA 4,100: number of Wal-mart stores and clubs in the US Wal-mart 187,000 ft2 : average area of a Wal-mart superstore Wal-mart 60,112 ft2: average area of a farmers' market USDA 9.5 million: number of imported food shipments arriving in the US each year Huffington Post 226,377: number of establishments registered to export food to the US Huffington Post 200: number of on-site inspections of these establishments conducted by the FDA last year Huffington Post 76 million: number of people who fall ill each year due to food poisoning CDC 50 gallons: volume of sugared beverages consumed per person in the US each year LA Times 22,727: number of Olympic-sized swimming pools those beverages would fill Answers.com $15 billion: annual estimated revenue of a penny-per-ounce tax on soda LA Times $20.5 billion: Coca-Cola's gross profit in 2008 Coca-Cola 72 million: number of American adults considered obese CDC 33%: percentage of US children likely to develop obesity or Type 2 diabetes CDC 10-15 years: average number of years their lives will be shortened as a result CDC 57 years: average age of the American farmer USDA 25 days: average shelf-life of a Twinkie Snopes 350 parts per million: sustainable level of CO2 in atmosphere 350.org 390 parts per million: current level of CO2 in the atmosphere NOAA 31%: percentage of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions attributable to food and agriculture IPCC 2020: year by which many geologists feel the world will have reached "peak oil" production UK Research Centre 10 calories: average amount of fossil fuel energy required to produce 1 calorie of food energy in industrialized food systems Cornell 29,100 calories: estimated fossil fuel calories required to produce one order of Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries Men's Health 1 billion: number of hungry people in the world in 2009 FAO 9.1 billion: projected world population in the year 2050 US Census 70%: percentage increase in global food production required to feed that projected population FAO 70%: percentage of world's fresh water used for agricultural purposes UNESCO 1.8 billion: number of people expected to experience "water scarcity" in the year 2025 UNEP 0: number of new, oil-rich, water-rich, fertile and inhabitable planets we are likely to discover in the next 40 years 1: number of people needed to make a positive difference in any of the above: you!

About Me

I have a BSW degree, and worked as a social worker for quite a few years, before getting out (with most of my sanity intact) to farm.I grew up on a farm and this is what i was meant to do. I have two wonderful daughters, as well as 3 dogs, 6 cats, a pig named Joey, chickens, ducks and a bunny. All are family.